Lily & Eli

Eli was born on Monday, but we decided to wait until Tuesday for Lily to come meet him.  I had a great plan for when she came in, including reading her big sister book, which she loves, and then meeting Eli.

As soon as Stro walked in with her, she spotted the Skittles that I had been snacking on the night before.  She immediately had to eat all the rest of them before doing anything else.  Plan foiled.  :)

She was equal parts very interested in Eli and very interested in the fact that the bed moved up and down.  She did great though; no signs of jealousy or resentment.  We had lots of fun introducing them!

"Who's that, mama?"

:)

Welcome, Eli!

We are now officially a family of four!  Eli was born on February 6 at 2:28 pm.  He weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 19.75 inches long.

On the 5th, during the Super Bowl, I told Strother I thought we should go to the hospital; there was a chance that my water had broken.  We head over, and although my water had not broken, the nurses and doctor said they wanted us to stay for a while so they could monitor me.  So we finished watching the Super Bowl, and finally, at midnight, they said I was close to in labor, but not quite.  They even offered for us to stay overnight, but since we live only 10 minutes away and I had a doctor appointment the next morning, we decided to go home.

While we were there, Stro arranged for someone to take his ship the next day, just in case.  On the way home, we thought about him taking it instead (since I wasn't technically in labor yet), but decided to just leave the plans as they were, with his friend covering the ship.  We are glad we made that decision, or else he might not have made it to Eli's birth!

Strother's mom was at the house with Lily, and when we got home Sunday night, we asked if she could take Lily the next day so that we could relax.  We figured I'd go to the doctor, they'd tell us the same thing we'd heard the night before at the hospital, and then we'd relax the rest of the day.  This is when God laughs at your plans.  :)

At my appointment the next morning, when my doctor checked for dilation, she said, "All right, you are literally walking around in active labor right now.  Head to the hospital; you're having a baby today!"  I hadn't been in any pain at all, same as with Lily!  I'm so glad that I had that appointment, or I may not have known to go to the hospital!

I got to the hospital around 10, and for a while we just relaxed and watched TV.  My mom and his dad came and visited, while his mom stayed at their house with Lily.  I still wasn't in any pain.  At around 1:30, my doctor came in and broke my water.  Then the pain started!  The anesthesiologist came in around 1:45 to administer the epidural, and he told Stro he'd be done around 2:15.  He finishes up, and I feel two more contractions.  On the third one, I told the nurse it was time.  She checked, and sure enough, it was!  Unfortunately, the epidural hadn't had time to kick in yet, so I felt it all!

I texted Stro to come back to the room at 2:20, the doctor came in a couple of minutes later, and Eli arrived at 2:28!  It all happened so quickly, which I'm thankful for, since the epidural hadn't started working yet!  After he arrived, my legs felt nice and numb.  :)

The rest of our hospital stay was great; Eli passed all his tests with flying colors and is still doing great.

Here are our pictures from the hospital:

 

 

 

 

Ready to go home!

Lily is 2.5 Years Old!

On February 3, Lily officially turned 2.5!  We celebrated with cupcakes and lots of fun!

She is so animated and talks so much these days!  Unfortunately, one of her favorite words is no- we are working on that, ha. She also loves saying:
-so what you doing?
-what's in mama's mouth?  (any time I try to sneak a snack)
-all aboard!  (because we play choo choo train a lot these days!)
-so where we going mama?
-oh my goodness
-so delicious
-so cute
-the word super, as in super tall or super fast
-nope, not yet (as in, "Lily, are you ready to ___?"  "Nope, not yet.")

She loves being outside, cooking in her kitchen, puzzles, her dollhouse (especially hiding and finding a small cake that came with it), and playing with her Mickey dolls. She is obsessed with the front seats of our cars; lots of times when we park at the house, we give her a few minutes in the front to push buttons, pull the visor down, open the sunroof, etc.  She also still loves her stuffed giraffe, who she calls Bia.

She has moved to a new room since we are expecting Eli, and, after a few days of adjustment, is doing well in her twin size bed. She starts every night with Bia, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, AND Goofy in her bed, but then eventually throws "the guys" out and only sleeps with the girls.

She absolutely loves going to church and to MOPS, a mothers of preschoolers meeting that I go to once a month. At the house, she puts on shoes, sometimes grabs play keys or a purse, and says bye to us. When we ask where she's going, her response is always either to church or to MOPS. :)

We are so excited to see what the coming months bring as she transitions to her role as big sister!

Here are a few recent pics:

Testing our her new bed!

Our little chef

Playing at the park

Learning her letters

A tea party with the ponies!

Happy Valentine's Day!